Chiasmus as a Stylistic Device in John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel

Muhammed, Emad; Shaimaa,

	Chiasmus as a Stylistic Device in John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel
for humanities sciences al qadisiya
Article 1, Volume 12, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 21-30 PDF (0 K)
Authors
Emad Muhammed;
Abstract
AbstractThis study deals with chiasmus as one of the common figures of speech. It is a literary device used in rhetoric and in poetry to designate the inversion of an order of words.Chiasmus is a sequence of two grammatical constructions which are parallel in syntax, but with a reversal in the word order of one of them. Chiasmus is a structural device which generates a criss-cross pattern resembling the letter ''X'' in the English alphabet. Generally, this figure of speech is used for spicing up language and making it more effective and interesting. The study aims at giving a somehow adequate investigation of chiasmus and the phenomenon it describes. Moreover, it aims at identifying the rhetorical functions ofthis selected stylistic device in any text and analyzing various lines from a Neo- Classical poem to show the purposes of using it in this selected literary work.The first part of this study is devoted to the theoretical framework of chiasmus as a stylistic device. It involves two main sections. Section one presents a full description of chiasmus. Section two shows the rhetorical functions of chiasmus. The second part of this study provides the practical analysis of the device of chiasmus in John Dryden's poem Absalom and Achitophel. Finally, the conclusion sums up the results of the study.

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